Did you know that acupuncture can be an extremely beneficial treatment against allergies? We wanted to share with you that acupuncture can be an effective treatment option for patients suffering from seasonal allergies and allergic rhinitis. A study conducted by researchers on Charité, University of Berlin, found that patients receiving acupuncture experienced a significant decrease of allergic rhinitis symptoms and needed less allergy medications than patients that were not receiving acupuncture. The researchers recruited 414 patients for this clinical study that lasted 8 weeks. All patients had seasonal allergic rhinitis for at least two years prior to the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, the true acupuncture group or the sham (placebo) acupuncture group. The patients did not know whether they received real or sham acupuncture.

Patients in the acupuncture group used antihistamines, a popular generic allergy drug, 8.92 days on average during the intervention period. Sham acupuncture group patients used antihistamines for an average of 13.41 days. The true acupuncture patients did not increase use of drugs from onset to the peak of pollen season. Patients in the control group increased antihistamine consumption. Researchers also found that seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms decreased significantly in the acupuncture group compared with the other study group. Researchers concluded that patients receiving acupuncture had less drug intake and less symptoms than patients in the sham acupuncture control group. Modern research extensively supports the use of acupuncture for the treatment of allergic rhinitis. If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of receiving acupuncture, please visit Seattle Naturopathic and Acupuncture Center and give us a call!